A handful of angry fans in Lome, chanting exit songs for Head coach Claude Le Roy who failed to qualify the Hawks for the upcoming AFCON in Egypt.

A handful of angry fans in Lome, chanting exit songs for Head coach Claude Le Roy who failed to qualify the Hawks for the upcoming AFCON in Egypt.

Togo’s last hope was to win away in Benin in the last round of qualifiers but lost 2-1. Fans believe its time to pick a local coach.

“It’s time for Africa to stop hiring these expatriate coaches, who come and are paid exorbitant salaries but in the end do not produce any results. Why not have faith in African coaches, who are competent, who are efficient and who want to do more than what the expatriate coaches are doing?” the protest organiser Edoh Komi told reporters.

Others think otherwise, saying the problem is rooted in administrative and managerial lapses.

Herbert Awoudji is a sports analyst in Lome

“Togo has so far participated in four AFCON tournaments, but has lost out in four other tournaments. We always participate in every AFCON. Is it that the problem lies with the coaches? Every time, we say that the fault lies with the coaches, we always say that coaches must be fired, which we do but the result remains the same. Today, we are here calling for Claude Leroy to be removed. From 2006 up to today, Togo has had 13 coaches changed which has not resolved anything.”

The French man’s contract expired on April 6th but the Togolese football association is yet to make pronouncements on his fate if at all we will be retained or replaced.

A handful of angry fans in Lome, chanting exit songs for Head coach Claude Le Roy who failed to qualify the Hawks for the upcoming AFCON in Egypt.

A handful of angry fans in Lome, chanting exit songs for Head coach Claude Le Roy who failed to qualify the Hawks for the upcoming AFCON in Egypt.

Togo’s last hope was to win away in Benin in the last round of qualifiers but lost 2-1. Fans believe its time to pick a local coach.

“It’s time for Africa to stop hiring these expatriate coaches, who come and are paid exorbitant salaries but in the end do not produce any results. Why not have faith in African coaches, who are competent, who are efficient and who want to do more than what the expatriate coaches are doing?” the protest organiser Edoh Komi told reporters.

Others think otherwise, saying the problem is rooted in administrative and managerial lapses.

Herbert Awoudji is a sports analyst in Lome

“Togo has so far participated in four AFCON tournaments, but has lost out in four other tournaments. We always participate in every AFCON. Is it that the problem lies with the coaches? Every time, we say that the fault lies with the coaches, we always say that coaches must be fired, which we do but the result remains the same. Today, we are here calling for Claude Leroy to be removed. From 2006 up to today, Togo has had 13 coaches changed which has not resolved anything.”

The French man’s contract expired on April 6th but the Togolese football association is yet to make pronouncements on his fate if at all we will be retained or replaced.

CAF has issued out cheque of more than 6,393 million CFA francs for its association members.

After FIFA, CAF has issued out cheques for its association members. The continental football body will urgently release more than 6,393 million CFA francs. Each federation will receive nearly 120 million. A subsidy to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The health situation is still worrisome and is disrupting the whole of African football. Some championships have come to a standstill, others are waiting without being really sure when to resume.

And in the face of this crisis, FIFA is stepping up its initiatives to support the recovery of the world’s leagues. A risk assessment tool has been made available to the Confederations and Federations to ensure the safety of the players. More details to follow in this programme, coming up just after this short break

Since 2016, Rudisha has competed sporadically. He only raced four times in 2017, and did not compete in 2018, 2019 or 2020. He hopes to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Two-time Olympic 800-meter champion David Rudisha underwent surgery on his left ankle on Thursday after fracturing it while walking on uneven ground at his home in Kilgoris in rural Narok County, Kenya, last week.

“The surgery was carried out by Kenyan team doctor and orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Victor Bargoria,” reported Rudisha’s manager, Michel Boeting of one4one Sports in the Netherlands.

He continued: “During a walk on the compound the 31-year-old stepped on uneven ground, and initially believed it was not a serious injury. He continued with exercises that wouldn’t cause further harm to his ankle but after a lack of improvement over the weekend, he underwent an examination and was diagnosed with an ankle fracture at St. Luke’s hospital in Eldoret.”

Boeting says that Rudisha will be out of training for 12 to 16 weeks.

Rudisha won his first Olympic title in London in 2012 in what many consider to be the greatest 800-meter race ever held. Running from the front, he set a new world record of 1:40.91, a mark which still stands nearly eight years later.

Rudisha was able to defend his title in Rio in 2016, running his fastest time of the year of 1:42.15, beating Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi by nearly half a second.

Since 2016, Rudisha has competed sporadically. He only raced four times in 2017, and did not compete in 2018, 2019 or 2020. He hopes to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

End of the season on mainland with the list getting longer. The Gambia and Rwanda quit after more than two months. Meanwhile, Burundi has resumed and Tanzania is expected to follow soon.

The African transfer market is under threat over COVID-19 and fears of a financial crisis. The stoppage of competitions is a hard blow for clubs, footballers and player representatives. We speak to a players’ agent, Adama Ndiaye.

And will the 2022 Worlc Cup in Qatar be as attractive as hoped? Qatari authorities are trying to reassure the world. They’ve promised an affordable World Cup, despite the high cost of living in the emirate.

Our Wahany Johnson Sambou has the details of these and more on this week’s edition of Football Planet.